Chapter 10

 

I got to my house after 8 AM. I was bone tired, exhausted from the array of emotions that I’d experienced in such a short period of time. I hadn’t even enough energy to be angry with Bailey right now, to want to question her behavior. I just wanted to get to my spot on the couch and admire the beautiful day. To let the sunlight shine in the window as I slept. And sleep I would. I wanted at least ten hours of uninterrupted sleep. I put my key in the lock quietly and hoped the alarm wasn’t on so I wouldn’t disturb anyone; it looked as if both Robyn and Claudia were there as well. It wasn’t. I closed the door as quietly as I opened it and took my shoes off to slide into the living room. Robyn and Claudia were coupled up, asleep on the couch, and Bailey was sitting in her spot, knocked out. A surge of anger rushed through me. I almost wanted to not sit there, to not allow her to wake and find me there, as I should be, as she was used to me being. But I walked over anyway. I covered Claudia and Robyn with a blanket, and then, got my own, and sat. I looked at her, much like she looked at me when I was there. I stared at her, and although the tears finally came, they never spilled. I fell asleep with them still clinging on in my eyes. 

“Jay. Babe.” Bailey was touching me. I woke up slowly and squinted at the clock, the room was filled with sunlight. It was after 2 PM. “I want to talk to you.” I shook my head and then turned over to go back to sleep.

“I don’t want to right now, Bailey. I’m asleep.” I was cranky. I turned my back to her, curling back up on the couch, and immediately fell back to sleep. 

“Jaylen.” Now it was Claudia’s turn to wake me up. My eyes sprung open at the sound of her voice. I turned over and glanced at the clock. It was after 5. I sat up, and she looked at me. “So, you came to the party last night? How did you end up coming?” 

            “I just did.” I offered flimsily, but I knew she wouldn’t accept that. 

            “Uh huh. So, what did you see? Bailey told me something happened, but not exactly what?” Claudia turned to me, pulling her knees into her chest. She was wearing a pair of Bailey’s basketball shorts, which swallowed her. I wanted to smile at that, but I couldn’t. 

            “I saw Bailey and some girl on the wall. She was flirting with the girl, the girl was touching her, and Bailey wasn’t stopping any of it. Then the girl kissed her. I just stood there waiting to see how long she was going to allow all of this to go on. She let it all happen.” Tears burned in my eyes, but I wouldn’t cry. I was too pissed to cry. “How are we getting married in two months and she’s letting some other chick kiss her? Did she even think about me? Did she even care that I saw that, that I was upset?”

            “Of course I did.” Bailey answered from the doorway. Claudia and I looked up at her at the same time. I turned away first. “Claud, can you excuse us?” She asked. Claudia rose, but I grabbed her and pulled her back down. 

            “We’re talking. I’ll talk to you later, Bailey.” Bailey came in and sat in her spot. I wanted to move, move in some way so she couldn’t see me, but I didn’t.

            “Jaylen, you need to talk to me about this. Not Claudia.” Bailey said firmly. 

            “I can talk to Claud about whatever I want, whenever I want, Bailey. You can wait.” I responded just as firmly.

            “Like I always wait, right?” Bailey roared. One of the major differences between Bailey and Desi was her temper. Bailey showed much more emotion than Desi ever allowed. And right now, she was angry. 

            “How on earth do you get to be angry?” I shouted back at her. “You’re the one that was at the party with some girl kissing on you. If I hadn’t come, what else would have happened?”

            “Guys,” Claudia said quietly. “I’m going to go.” Neither of us heard her words nor saw her leave the room. We were glaring at each other. Bailey stood up and started pacing. 

            “I get to be angry, Jaylen, because you wouldn’t even come to the party with me. Why is that?” Bailey snapped. “I mean, yeah, I was flirting a little, and it got out of hand.” I turned my nose up at her. 

            “Really? So, if you came across me, cuddled up in a corner at a party, some chick touching me, kissing me, you’d be fine with it because I’d just be flirting a little, right?” The question dripped with sarcasm. I rolled my eyes. 

            “So, why did you even come, Jaylen? You wouldn’t come with me. Why did you even come?” Bailey asked. She sat back down and looked at me with a cold intensity. I didn’t want to tell her that Desi had called me and told me that I needed to. She saved me the trouble. “I went through your phone. I saw a private call at 3 in the morning. Who was it?” I sighed.

            “Bailey, why are you going through my phone?” 

            “I took it out of your purse to charge it.” She often did that, my cell phone battery regularly died and went unnoticed. “And when it turned on, I looked. And saw that. Who was it?” I sighed again. 

            “It was Desi.” I answered honestly. “She got my number out of Claudia’s phone, she said she stole Claud’s phone to get it. And then she called me and said that I may want to come to the house and check on you. I thought you may have gotten sick, so I came.” Bailey gritted her teeth and gave me a hard stare.

            “Are-you-f*****g-serious, Jaylen? Desiree called you and told you to come, so you came, but you wouldn’t even come when I asked you?” 

            “Bailey, seriously, I thought you were sick. That was the only reason I came.”

            “Of course I wasn’t sick. Claud would have called if I was sick, Rob would have called. Not f*****g Desiree!” My face flushed a little. She was right. 

            “Okay, fine, Bailey. You’re right. But who the hell cares? You weren’t worried about anything; you were doing just what you wanted.” I sneered.

            “So that’s what it takes to motivate you? Desi says jump, and you say how high. Should I be enlisting her services for our entire marriage, or should I simply try and take a class and learn what it takes to make you want to do anything?” I stood up now.

            “Who says there will even be a wedding?” I stalked away out of the room. Bailey pursued.

            “Oh, so now you don’t want to marry me anymore, Jaylen?” She yelled at me as she followed me up the stairs. “Did Desi have something to do with that, too?” I whirled around and almost fell, catching myself with the railing. 

            “Go to hell, Bailey.” I spat at her.

            “Sure, that’s mature, Jaylen.” She retorted. I started back up the stairs.

            “Okay. Let’s be mature, then, Bailey. Why don’t you not go to hell, but go to the b***h who you were all up on at the party. I’m sure you have her number in your phone. Yeah, I’m sure.   Why don’t I go through your damn phone?” I walked to the bedroom door and slammed it shut in her face. She opened it and looked at me sadly.

            “I’m sorry. I was upset. You wouldn’t come with me and I thought it was because you didn’t want to be seen with me; you didn’t want Desi to see us together.” 

            “Why would I care? I’m MARRYING you, Bailey. Not Desi!” I screamed at her. “Why don’t you just let it go?” Bailey looked at me calmly as she sat on the bed. 

            “I’ll let it go when you let it go, Jaylen.” Her calculated words fell upon me like a thunderstorm of bricks. I backed away, bumping into the couch in the sitting area. I moved as far away from her as I could, into the window seat. I finally looked up at her. 

            “If you think I haven’t let go, Bailey, then why are you marrying me? You shouldn’t be.” I said hoarsely. There was a long pause before she answered. When I glanced her way, she looked as if she were trying to compose herself.

            “I want to be wrong. I love you, and I want to feel like you’re over it, Jaylen.” I got off the window seat and inched toward her, scrutinizing her. “All I want is to be wrong about what I think.” 

            “What do you think?” I’d made it to the bed and sat at her feet, so I could continue to look at her face, see her reactions. Her eyes flew up to meet mine.

            “That you are still in love with Desi. That’s what I think. That’s what I am scared of.” Bailey buried her face in her hands. “Jaylen, that s**t scares me more than anything. That you’re still in love with her and at any moment, she could come through here and take you away.” Her words were muffled by her hands, but I could hear them clear as day. I scooted closer to her, and pulled her hands away, taking them in mine.

            “Bailey, I saw Desi this morning. She found me to talk to me. I told her that I am in love with you. I meant it when I said it to her.  I mean it right now too. I love you. I’m in love with you. I’m marrying you.” She looked at me, and her eyes searched my face. 

            “You still want to marry me?” She asked me, her voice choked. I nodded. 

            “I do.” I responded earnestly. She and I shared a smile. 

            “Sometimes, I think that we are so broken, Jaylen, and then other times, I think we’re so together, so meant for each other. Like we couldn’t exist without the other.” Bailey folded me into her arms. My pillars of strength. There we lay together, not asleep, but perfectly silent. Each of us believing in the other; the we believing in the us. 

 

 

Reviews

[D1218]

I love this story :)
I wish I could have been one of the many to review it while you were actually in the process of writing it - or even a little after it

[Ruby Moon]

why do the last 2 sentence make me feel that doom is coming soon for them both?

[Shellie]

Really really good. Thought id review the last few chapters together as i see no flaws! its very well coming together, and like bridgey immstartin to dislike jaylen alot! i hope thers more! great writing, its enthralling reading.

[Charles D. Moorer]

Now, you've got it. the dialogue flows beautifully. The tension and action are right on. In the end the human frailty is exposed and we can all relate to our flaws, the universality of it is touching. I like the way Bailey and Jaylen communicate, it is if you can almost hear them. I have to put all of the chapters together and read them to get a sense of the "whole" story to see the plot development and where I think its going. I am impressed!